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In preparation for the Oscars on Sunday night, here are two recent essays I wrote on nominated movies. I won’t hold my breath after the Grammys travesty that robbed Bey’s Lemonade of all its richly deserved recognition, and proved yet again that white mediocrity will always be recognized by the establishment over black excellence…But for the record, Team Moonlight in all its categories! Even best supporting actress, cuz Viola deserved to be nominated and to win in the best actress category for her role in Fences!

When Beyoncé’s tour de force album Lemonade won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2017 Grammy Awards last night, I began to worry about her chances for Album of the Year. Queen Bey probably already knew what was likely to happen and gave an incredible acceptance speech explaining that her intention in making Lemonade was to “give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness, and our history — to confront issues that make us uncomfortable” (read full transcript), and speaking about the importance of representation within the most visible arenas of our society.

Our story is not the Loving story. It is a tale of interracial love and marriage – like the story that is beautifully and poignantly represented in the Jeff Nichols film Loving –and yet, it’s so very different. Assuming a certain level of historical accuracy in the movie, Richard and Mildred Loving (portrayed respectively by Joel Edgerton and Oscar-nominated actress Ruth Negga) were relatively similar in terms of background, including aspects of class, region, and language. The only thing that separated them was race. This is not to minimize the huge significance of racial difference, particularly in the 1950s South, but only to emphasize that in terms of other aspects of their identity, they were actually quite compatible with each other. One of the main messages I took away from the movie was the gulf between the huge significance of race from a legal and social perspective, and its insignificance in the daily life of the Lovings. This story was not about a couple who set out to challenge a racist law, or even to take a stand on racial equality, at least not at first; rather it was about a man and woman in love, trying to do what was best for their family.

An article published yesterday by Andrés Pertierra in The Nation really struck a chord with me, so I feel compelled both to share it and my own thoughts on the subject. First, let me say, if you’re hoping/planning/thinking of going to Cuba for the first time and you’re a thoughtful, well-intentioned person who wants to express solidarity with the Cuban people, YOU NEED TO READ THIS: